Investing.com - The dollar slumped against the euro on Thursday after data on weekly U.S. jobless claims disappointed investors while European factory and service-sector data surprised on the upside.
In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was trading at 1.3678, up 0.96, up from a session low of 1.3531 and off a high of 1.3685.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3531, the earlier low, and resistance at 1.3699, the high from Jan. 14.
The euro zone’s composite output index rose to a 31-month high of 53.2 in January, up from a final reading of 52.1 in December.
The report bolstered the euro by fanning expectations for the European Central Bank to hold off on easing monetary policy further and instead let policy remain unchanged to see if the economy can recover on its own.
Manufacturing activity in Europe's largest economy Germany expanded at its fastest pace since May of 2011 this month, coming in at 56.3, beating market forecasts for a 54.6 reading.
Meanwhile in the U.S., the Labor Department reported earlier that weekly initial jobless claims rose in line with expectations last week, but the number of continuing jobless claims remained above the 3 million mark for a second successive week.
The number of individuals filing for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose to 326,000, up from the previous week’s revised total of 325,000 and in line with expectations.
The number of people filing continuing unemployment claims rose to 3.056 million up from 3.022 million in the week to Jan. 11. Analysts had expected continuing claims to fall to 2.930 million.
Elsewhere, U.K.-based Markit Economics reported that U.S. factory output fell to a three-month low in January, mainly due to the impacts that wintry weather had on commerce.
The U.S. manufacturing PMI declined to 53.7 this month from a final reading of 55.0 in December. Analysts had expected the index to hold steady.
Also Thursday, the National Association of Realtors reported that U.S. existing home sales came in at 4.87 million units last month from 4.82 million in November, missing expectations for an increase to 4.94 million.
Elsewhere, the euro was up against the pound, with EUR/GBP gaining 0.72% to 0.8233, and up against the yen, with EUR/JPY trading up 0.05% at 141.68.